Adjustable bed-bottom



j (No Model.) 4 2 Sheets$heet 1: l J. W. OGDEN.

ADJUSTABLE BED BOTTOM; No. 272,973. Patented Peb.27,188 3.

WTTNESSEE: INVENTOR .T Q ATTORNEY u. PETERS. Phoflrhlhognph'r. Wasfwnglon. n. c.

2 Sheets-Sheet -2.

J. W; OGDEN.

ADJUSTABLE BED BOTTOM.

(No Model.)

Patented Feb. 27, 1883 INVENTOR ATTORNEY N. PETE. Mme-um n her, Wnh'mglon,

' UNrTED' STATES PATENT QFFICE.

JOHN W. OGDEN, OF BROOKLYN, NEW YORK.

ADJUSTABLE BED-BOTTOM.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 272,973, dated February 2'7, 1883.

Application filed December 12,1882. (NomodcLl To all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, JOHN W. OGDEN, of

' Brooklyn, Kings county, State of New York,

have invented a new and useful Improvement in Adjustable Bed-Bottoms; and I do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the same, reference being had to the accompanying sheet of drawings, forming part of, this specification.

This invention is in the nature of an improvement in adjustable bed-bottoms; and the invention is an adjustable bed-bottom consisting of a series of parallel slats, to which are fixed the ordinary spiral springs, the several slats at or near their ends being connected by jointed tie-rods, and the two marginal slats ot' the series having pivoted to them rigid stretcher-bars, which keep the bed-bottom fixed in its expanded position, and which also retain it in its closed or folded position.

The invention also consists in connecting the several marginal springs of a bed-bottom with chains having springs combined therewith, whereby the slack of the chains may be taken up, all arranged and constructed for the purpose hereinafter described.

In the accompanying sheet of drawings,

v Figure l is a plan or top view of my bed-bottom in its expanded position. Fig. 2 is a section of the same. Fig. 3 is a plan or top view of bed-bottom in its folded position. Fig. 4 is a crosssection of the same, taken in lines as and y, Fig. 3. Fig. 5 is adetail view, showing jointed tie-rods and springs on the connectingchains. Fig. 6 is a detail plan, showing the construction of the head, stretcher-bar, and lock-bar. Fig. 7 is a section of same taken in line 2 2, Fig. 6. Fig. 8 is a detail view, showing catch for stretcher-bar. Fig. 9 is a plan of same. Fig. 10 is a plan showing stretcherbar and lock-bar in the guide-loops. Fig. 11 isa cross-section of same.

Similar letters of reference indicate like parts in the several figures.

This invention pertains particularly-to that class of bed-bottoms which are adjustablethat is, which can be contracted fromits widest and expanded position to one which is smaller for the convenience of transportation, or 0therwise, and also for the purpose of adapting the bed-bottom to bedsteads of varying widths. Many bed-bottoms of this kind have heretofore been constructed, most of them, however, depending upon the flexibility of the material of which they are made to enable them to be rolled up; but bed-bottoms of thatdescription are for many reasons objectionable, the objections arising mainly from the necessary thinness and flexibility of the material of which they are composed.

To obviate such objections, and to make a d arable and simple bed-bottom that shall meet all the requirements of comfort, strength, and adjust-ability, I construct my bed-bottom with a series of slats, A, of any suitable material, preferably metal. These several slats are placed parallel to each other at suitable dis, tances apart to make the bottom of right width when in itsexpanded position. To each of the slats A of the entire series is fixed one end of the ordinary spiral springs, B, and also to each of these slats, and near their ends, are fixed by any suitable yielding joint, as by brackets to, Fig. 4, or otherwise, tie-rods (J. These tierods are also jointed in the middle of their length, as at b, and serve to tie, with yielding joints, the several slats A together. In addition to these tie rods,'the upper coil of each of the springs B is also connected by chains 0 to the marginal slat D of the series of slats, and at or near the end of the same are pivoted,

-at each end, rigid stretcher-bars E, each of these stretcher-bars having fixed to its pivoted ends a cast semicircular head, 0, and to the marginal slat F of the series is rigidly fixed, near its end, two lock-bars, G, with a semicircular recess,f, formed in their inner edges. To each of the slats A, at or near its end, are riveted guide-loops of metal 1 also, to the marginal slat F are fixed catches H, and into the free ends of the stretcher-bars E are punched notches h.

Now, when my bed-bottom is constructed substantially as hereinafter described it is,

when in its expanded or widest position, as 5 ICO guide-loops g, in which position it is firmly held by the catch H, which enters into one of the notches h in said stretcher-bars. In this outstretched or expanded position of the bedbottom the tie-rods U are extended and parallel to the stretcher-bars E. The fixedness of the bottom in this position does not depend upon the tie-rods, but is due wholly to the stretcher-bars E and catch H, which are amply suiiicient for that purpose. To reduce the width of the bed bottom to some extentas to adapt it to a bedstead of less than its greatest width-the catch H may be raised from the outer l1ole,"71-, in the stretcher-bars E, the marginal slats F and D only be pushed inward until the catch H can he made to enter theinnermost hole, h, in these bars, the tie-rods 'l) on the marginal slats F and I) being at the same time adjusted by being placed in holes 0, Fig. 4., which will lock the bed in a position of reduced width; and when it is desired to still further reduce the width of the bed-bottom-that is, to contract it to its smallest possible dimensions for the purpose of transportation or otherwise-the catch 11 is removed from the notches ll of the stretcher-bars and the several slats of the entire series pushed closely together, parallel to each other, as in Fig. 3, in doing which the lock-bars G pass into the guide-loops g, holding the slats rigidly against lateral motion, and the stretcher-bars E are turned on their respective pivots, the heads e of the bars, when in this position, entering into the notches f of the lock-bars G, thereby locking the slats and preventing their accidental pulling apart, the bars themselves being diagonally across the closed slots, Fig. 25. Now, when my bed-bottom is in this folded or closed position the several tie-rods O are folded up in the position shown in Fig. 4.

In addition to the several slats A, which may be called the foundation-slats of the bed-bottom, slats J are fixed to the upper ends of the springs, which extend parallel to the marginal slats I) and F, and which form bearing-slats for the upper surface of the bottom, the other slats, A, heretofore described, it being understood,constituting the bottom of the contrivance. When the bed-bottom is reduced in width, as before stated, the connectingchains G,near the margins of the bottom,will hecomeslackened and rattle unless some means he adopted to prevent it. For this purpose these several connecting-chains may have fixed to them in some convenient manner spiral springs k, which will take up this slack and prevent the rattling. These springs are only attached to the chainsnear the margins of the bed-bottom for the reason, as before stated, that it is only the marginal slats F and D which are adjusted or moved inward when the bottom is to be adapted from a wide to anarrow bedstead.

Having now described myinvention, what I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is

1. A bed-bottom with its marginal slats F and D,adapted to be pushed toward each other without changing the position of the intermediate slats and be locked in such position, whereby the bottom is reduced in width atits margins only, as and for the purpose described.

2. In a bed-bottom, the combination of a se- .ries of parallel foundation-slats with two or more pivoted stretcher-bars, and catches engaging therewith, and lock bars to receive the heads of said stretcher-bars, and a series'ot' jointed tie-rods, all constructed and arranged as and for the purpose described.

3. In a bed-bottom, the marginal slats of a series of foundation-slats provided with pivoted stretcher-bars, in combination with adjustable catches, as and for the purpose described.

at. In an adjustable bed-bottom, the combination of the chainsconnecting the several springs thereof, together with sprin gs,w hereby the slack of the chains may be taken up, substantially as and for the purpose described.

5. In an adjustable bed-bottom, the combination of two or more lock-bars with a series of guide-loops, whereby the bottom is held rigidly against lateral motion in its closed position, substantially as and for the purpose described.

(3. In an adjustable bed-bottom, two or more stretcher bars provided with semicircular heads at one end and two or more lockingnotches at the other, as and for the purpose described.

v JOHN W. OGDEN. \Vitnesses:

G. M. PLYMPTON, JNo. N. BRUNS. 

